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Google's Project Loon ambitious project that is expected to provide internet access to remote areas around the world is scalling up, as the company plans to launch thousands of new balloons.
The ballons will be used to provide Internet access to users in remote areas that are currently unserved by terrestrial networks, said Mike Cassidy, the Google engineer in charge of the project, in a video posted Friday.
The project involves beaming down LTE cellular signals to handsets on the ground from balloons thousands of feet in the air, well above the altitude that passenger jets fly.
Trials are currently underway with Telstra in Australia, Telefonica in Latin America and with Vodafone in New Zealand.
The ballons can fly for at least 6 months and feature technology that allows them to navigate and land safely after their service cycle end.
Google hasn’t provided any details about what a commercial roll-out of the technology might look like.
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